Wisconsin announces firing of offensive coordinator Phil Longo

Wisconsin announced the firing of Phil Longo, their offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, on Sunday.

The Badgers shared the news on that coaching change in a release earlier this evening.

“Wisconsin football head coach Luke Fickell announced a coaching change on Sunday. Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Phil Longo has been relieved of his duties,” the release read.

“This morning, I informed Phil Longo that he will no longer serve as our offensive coordinator,” said Fickell in the announcement. “After continuing to evaluate the program, I decided we are not where we need to be and believe this decision is in the best interest of the team. I appreciate Phil’s commitment to helping us build our program over the past two seasons and wish him well moving forward. This team still has a lot in front of us and I am committed to doing everything we can to close out this season with success.”

Longo spent two years on the Badgers’ staff under Fickell for a total of 23 games.

In those games, Wisconsin has had an offensive that has averaged 23.7 points with 372.2 yards of offense. 23.5 ppg. ranked 93rd in the nation last fall while their current number at 23.9 ppg. ranks a few spots worse this season in 98th. That includes their current three-game losing streak where they have scored 13 points or less in each.

The Badgers have also been unsuccessful in the passing game as part of that while playing a trio of quarterbacks in that span. Of that average yardage, 207 of it has come in passing on just 58.5% completion with 24 touchdowns to 14 interceptions, good for a ratio of just 1.7. That has mostly come from the stats of Tanner Mordecai, Tyler Van Dyke, and then Braedyn Locke who has played in their places due to injuries, including much of this current season.

Prior to his pair of seasons in Madison, Longo also spent eight years in the same positions at North Carolina, Ole Miss, and Sam Houston State.

Wisconsin did not announce who would be calling plays now over their final two games in their release. That leaves their offense as a question going into this week ahead of their second-to-last game at Nebraska.